Prey aka Predator 5 (Dan Trachtenberg)

~Rebel~ · 08-08-2022 7:12am

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Beautifully shot, well built up, great pacing. I'd be another for whom this is just behind the original anyway (though I do love the fun of Predators, but this is a better crafted film).

Some of the complaints are hilarious though, the Mary Sue thing is such a load of wánk. And lads whinging that it's a strong female character, when they'd doubtless have had no complaints if the main character was the exact same, but a young male instead. Think some people were coming into this with their complaints already practically written, regardless what happened on-screen.

pixelburp · 08-08-2022 7:33am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119443420#Comment_119443420

Last line is it in a nutshell; read back to the start of the thread when the premise was first known and it's obvious some watched this with their minds made up. By no means was it a revolutionary, or especially memorable film; it was a competent, entertaining midtier B-Grade Movie. Which are such rare pearls I'll always clap for those. But what's that? A GIRRRRRRL is the lead? Mary Sue Mary Sue!! For goodness sake the plot was so rote it literally met my expectations from the last time I replied to you yourself Rebel;

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119238727#Comment_119238727

And even then, she only Did The Thing because:

Her brother softened up the Predator at the end with his desperate Last Stand attack. He weakened him; the Mary Sue thing doesn't track 'cos she'd have had to beaten the Pred herself. Even that was a stock script-writing moment; my wife and I took bets whether the brother was going to live, or sacrifice himself.

08-08-2022 8:01am

Apparently Van Damme was in the suit again, but again uncredited. He won't be happy.

McFly85 · 08-08-2022 9:29am

I liked it! It’s a stunning looking film, maybe not as distinctive as the original but striking nonetheless. The soundtrack is brilliant too.

Thought the 2 Comanche leads were excellent, too.

The Mary Sue thing is completely ridiculous. The film attempted to show that Naru is a skilled and intelligent hunter in her own right, who spent most of the film studying the predator and ended up against it after it was heavily injured from several battles. It was perhaps the most believable battle in the series - after all, the idea that one person can beat an alien whose twice the size of them and has access to futuristic technology that makes them literally invisible is patently ridiculous!

Doesn’t top the original, but at least we got a Predator film that actually understands what a Predator film should be.

breezy1985 · 08-08-2022 9:36am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119182867#Comment_119182867

Everyone knows the only aliens on Earth at that time were the Goa'uld and those 2 Borg frozen in the Arctic.

johnny_ultimate · 08-08-2022 9:48am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119443183#Comment_119443183

"Naru metamorphosises into a Mary Sue as the film progresses" - You're just proving the flimsiness of your own argument with claims such as this, as this is just a roundabout way of saying 'she develops as a character as the film progresses'.

To put it another way: she grows and develops as a character & hunter over the course of the film, based on the experiences and events depicted on screen.

Not to mention that she's freshly motivated by the death of her brother and fighting a notably weakened foe.

Sounds like pretty much every action film ever written to me? Hell, I'll go as far as argue the film actively goes out of its way to comprehensively show the unique circumstances that allow Naru to overcome the predator.

Sonics2k · 08-08-2022 11:18am

I have to say actually, the death of Taabe was quite sad. While it was always obvious it would happen, those final moments of his where he clearly knows his fate and still encouraging his sister are really good.

I think a lot of people have no clue what a Mary Sue is, and are just trotting it out. Even if you legitimately did not enjoy the film, she takes on the Predator after it gets injured by a bear, some of the guys from her tribe, the French guys and then Taabe at the end.

The use of the flowers is really no different than Arnie covering himself in mud in the first movie, and frankly even the mud requires a massive leap in imagination as that's really not how it works.

MisterAnarchy · 08-08-2022 11:21am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119443800#Comment_119443800

She literally developed from a novice to super stealth ninja over a week, the film is set over a few days.

It was too quick a progression.

Last line is it in a nutshell; read back to the start of the thread when the premise was first known and it's obvious some watched this with their minds made up. By no means was it a revolutionary, or especially memorable film; it was a competent, entertaining midtier B-Grade Movie. Which are such rare pearls I'll always clap for those. But what's that? A GIRRRRRRL is the lead? Mary Sue Mary Sue!! For goodness sake the plot was so rote it literally met my expectations from the last time I replied to you yourself Rebel;

I tried to keep an open mind and was mostly enjoying it until the finale.

It sagged a bit in the middle but the 2 McGuffins in the finale soured my view.

I liked the dog , he was very cute.

Wanderer78 · 08-08-2022 11:37am

need to watch this again, wasnt bowled over by it, but this has happened me before with other predators

yourdeadwright · 08-08-2022 11:38am

I really enjoyed it , all round good decent movie , but they really could make a proper epic Predator with the right amount of cash,

The missus said to me half way through how good would it be to have basically the movie Apocalypto with Predator in it,

Another option would to make a movie to that standard but don't tell anyone the Predator is in it ye know ,

ohnonotgmail · 08-08-2022 11:41am

Does anybody know if Apocalypto on any streaming sites? have a real yen to watch it after watching Prey.

pixelburp · 08-08-2022 11:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119444270#Comment_119444270

IMO it's the natural path for sequels; I hope Prey succeeds so the franchise can go in this direction rather than the constant retreads of the 1987 film's style.

yourdeadwright · 08-08-2022 11:53am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119444308#Comment_119444308

As i said i enjoyed the film but why not go all out ,

The Predator could have came across war band of furious Comanche or Apache's out on there raids in north mexico or the oregon trails, fully grown veteran warriors,

2smiggy · 08-08-2022 12:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119444289#Comment_119444289

it only seems to be available to rent on apple or google.

S.M.B. · 08-08-2022 12:22pm

I have yet to watch Prey (hopefully will this week) but I do find it interesting that a lot seem dissatisfied with the fact that the movie appears to be a genre movie but within a historical setting as opposed to a historical drama featuring the predator character (with or without the audience knowing in advance).

It got me thinking and I can't identify too many instances of either of the above. I would expect there to be more examples of franchises using this approach but I can't think of many.

Ginger Snaps III is all I can really think of and that is definitely more along the lines of Prey than Apocalypto but with a Predator.

Theboinkmaster · 08-08-2022 12:25pm

Watched it over the weekend and really enjoyed it - easily the best Predator film since the original.

pixelburp · 08-08-2022 2:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119444346#Comment_119444346

Not a bad idea though I imagine what we got was entirely informed by the budget. There weren't that many locations, not really, and a very small cast (discounting extras getting smashed by the Predator). No star names whatsoever either.

Now, if this is a success we might see a sequel bigger in scope, perhaps a follow-up based on the cute little mid-credits ~~scene~~ illustration.

BruteStock · 08-08-2022 3:33pm

Lots of white Knight gatekeeping in this thread! The funniest defence of the film is how she studied Predy over a few days and had him all figured out to the point she was able to use its own tech to make it kill itself... 😂😂

Meanwhile 100's of years later Gary Busey fronted a top secret CIA operation that had been studying and observing Predators and their tech for 10 years. These advanced idiots weren't able to last a wet minute when they finally encountered the Yutga in the slaughterhouse. All they had to do was take his mask off , place it somewhere and hope he shots himself dead!!

pixelburp · 08-08-2022 3:34pm

Maybe people just liked the movie, and weren't trying to find buzzwords.

Just a thought.

08-08-2022 3:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119445556#Comment_119445556

boy or girl, man or woman, lining up a laser sight line (that couldn't be seen) in advance purely by guesstimate to a precise point (that wasn't actually a precise point at all either, just a hope where something might be) and somehow also knowing the mask activation range also was "truly astounding"!

1-in-a-million wouldn't do it justice.

MisterAnarchy · 08-08-2022 4:16pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119445632#Comment_119445632

Exactly, the ending completely deflated the film , it was jarring and too far fetched.

As Eddie Murphy would say Get the ... out of here.

pixelburp · 08-08-2022 6:12pm

Ha, cute Easter egg I hadn't picked up on: the pistol Naru was given is the same one given to Danny Glover's character by those Predators at the end of Predator 2. Which probably means the animated mid-credits moment bode ill for the tribe's chances with the incoming round 2...

silliussoddius · 08-08-2022 7:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119445556#Comment_119445556

White knight gate keeping! Where donyou read this stuff?

~Rebel~ · 08-08-2022 8:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119444192#Comment_119444192

I mean, she just doesn't. It's established right at the start that she's almost ready, and just lacks the final killer instinct (seen with both the bird, and the lion early on). Not at all a novice. She's nearly the finished article, comes up with the successful plan for hunting the lion, and almost succeeds - but ultimately fails because she's only almost ready.

Everything in the story tells us that her strongest asset is her awareness, that she doesn't miss a thing. They show us over and over how she's the one who spots the tracks, she's the one who senses the danger, she's the one who sees behaviour patterns. And that's right from the beginning - not a trait that develops. Her brother literally says it, just in case we hadn't noticed throughout the film. And over the course of the film they specifically show us all the moments where she sees all the little pieces that will ultimately come together in that final fight.

She succeeds by being smart, studying the predator, fighting it on ground of her choosing, and when it's at its weakest thanks to her brother's sacrifice - having developed that extra killer instinct after everything we've seen her go through that saw her go from almost ready to ready.

I mean, for a genre action movie, it's really well constructed.

McFly85 · 08-08-2022 9:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119446245#Comment_119446245

I know that bit was supposed to be ominous, but shouldn’t they be coming down to just collect the remains and gift something to the tribe/Naru for their victory?

Its not really in keeping with their actions to want revenge or to come back more aggressively. Unless, I suppose some time has passed and another predator fancies their chances.

2smiggy · 08-08-2022 10:21pm

Did not know what to expect, but thought it was one of the best films I have watched this year. Really enjoyed it.

Slydice · 08-08-2022 10:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119446245#Comment_119446245

I only just saw someone post up the clip earlier today. I remembered when I saw it but had totally forgotten.

Big 'Ooohhhh' that's the Predator 2 nod some folks had mentioned.

Predator 2 - The episode with the old pistol, 1715.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwqWe0wz0fY

silverharp · 09-08-2022 9:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119447256#Comment_119447256

The Predator's crew came back and wiped out the tribe in revenge lol

pixelburp · 09-08-2022 9:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119446924#Comment_119446924

I took it to mean that Predators found a foe worth fighting on this planet and were coming to enjoy some sport. And if that gun eventually turns up in Predator 2, it meant the tribe/Naru were defeated, the gun taken as a trophy.

Suppose it's possible the gun was gifted by Naruz and as you say the other ships were simply there for funereal reasons. It'd certainly be less of a downer for the film to end on.

Supercell · 09-08-2022 9:37am

I enjoyed it, the scenery was shot brilliantly. I really enjoyed the scenes with the bear and her big bro attacking the Predator on horseback , was really rooting for them!

What next? predator vs bull elephant then a lion before being defeated by some African tribesman master hunter?!!

Prey aka Predator 5 (Dan Trachtenberg)

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